energy company is moving forward on investments despite fiscal cliff concerns. we begin on our conversation, zeroing in on lawmakers' efforts in washington and whether he thinks they can work out a deal. >> i hope we can. there's greatty in the business community waiting for something to be done. there are big concerns about structural deficits going forward. there are concerns about tax increases that would be coming absent some sort of a deal on the fiscal cliff. >> the fiscal cliff has been the issue that has stopped or sort of made companies reluctant to push cash to work, to hire folks. is that stopping you, or are you moving forward regardless? >> actually, we've been moving forward with our investments. we're spending some $32 billion this year on energy projects around the world. i expect we'll spend even manufacture thmore than that next year. all we need is the opportunity to invest. we need to have access. we need permits, and we need a tax structure that supports what we do. there will be a tremendous opportunity to create jobs and government revenue